Nishla Smith

Award-winning jazz singer Nishla Smith brings her trio to Undercurrent for a show celebrating the unmatched art of song. Joined by some of Wellington’s foremost musicians, Nishla will present a selection of the 20th century’s best-loved standards, threaded through with her “darkly gorgeous” originals (Downbeat USA).

Nishla is an artist driven by a desire to tell stories. Her unique musical sensibility drives a prolific array of musical projects. She’s recently made work for Opera North, London Jazz Festival and Manchester Collective. Her debut album, ‘Friends With Monsters’, was released on Whirlwind Recordings to critical acclaim.

Nishla is a Peter Whittingham Jazz Award Winner, International Songwriting Competition Award Winner and an alumni of London Jazz Festival’s flagship Take Five programme. She played the titular bird in Atri Banerjee’s acclaimed production of ‘Kes’, for which she won a UK Theatre Award, and has recently finished a run as ‘The Jazz Singer’, a role she originated in Emma Baggott’s Spring 2024 adaptation of ‘A Taste of Honey’ at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.

“Her voice is exquisite, a symbol of unreachable beauty.” THE GUARDIAN

“While Smith’s singing is an entrancing beauty all its own, the true trump cards are her lyrics and melodies.” DOWNBEAT USA

“Nishla’s original ballads sound like standards. Maudlin moments shoulder ecstatic reveries.” London Jazz News